The balsamic Moon is in Sagittarius this morning, conjunct Saturn. Meanwhile Mars is opposing Uranus and will perfect this evening, and Venus is almost exactly trine to Neptune. New Moon tomorrow!

Here's a list of what themes watch for:

* The end of a cycle (Dark Moon)* A sudden accident, confrontation, or unexpected/shocking encounter (Mars/Uranus)* A surge of fast moving energy, aggression, competition (Mars/Uranus)* Innovation, excitement, unexpected outcomes (Mars/Uranus)* Philosophical or religious debates or disagreements, new commitments (Moon, Saturn, Sun in Sagittarius)* The beginning of a new cycle (New Moon tomorrow)* The serious, achievement oriented mindset (Mercury in Capricorn)* The subtle, sensual, dark, erotic, and secret (Venus/Neptune)* The dark yearning, longing, romanticizing, imaginative, dreamy (Venus/Neptune in Scorpio)* Witch hunts, supernatural forces, spiritual warfare (Saturn/Neptune)* Good luck and positive outcomes (Jupiter overcoming the Sun by Superior square as the Sun's ruler)Over the next few days as our new moon cycle beings, Jupiter (who rules Sagittarius) will be overcoming the Sun in Sagittarius in a close, degree based aspect. While I'm curious to watch the symbolism of this transit over the next few days, one thing it may provide us with is some good luck or some unexpectedly positive outcomes. Given the presence of the Mars/Uranus opposition this could be the kind of transit that buffers against or mitigates some of that intensity. Though Mars/Uranus can be electrifying, dynamic, competitive and innovative, it's also one of those transits where I generally avoid arguments because they escalate too quickly, and I tend to stay away from Whole Foods, or other centers of mass chaos and "good will." So knowing we have a pretty positive aspect from Jupiter coming through right now is maybe somewhat relieving.​Prayer: Direct our thoughts and our minds to the heavenly realms, direct our hearts and our hands to the richness of the earth, and guide us peacefully into the last Moon cycle of the year.

The Moon is in Sagittarius today, applying to a trine of Uranus and then square of Jupiter. An exciting day of transits.

Watch for the burst of Uranian excitement, unpredictability, eccentricity, rebelliousness, or shock this evening around 7:00 pm (east coast), and then between 9 and 10:00 pm the Moon/Jupiter square highlights the themes of growth, faith, religion, truth, expansion, exaggeration, family or tribe, travel and optimism.

In the meantime, with the Moon in Sagittarius near the opening of a Moon cycle it's a good time to set new goals or aim our arrows at new targets for the month ahead. Personally I'm embarking on a new phase of my horary apprenticeship, having just finished an arduous section of learning more about the math and astronomy of the chart, as well as learning to cast charts the way that William Lily did! Fitting that the Moon in Sagittarius has me eyeing new learning horizons and long term goals for my practice. Sometimes the simplest astrological cliches are the truest. So today...see if you can spot the Centaur in your midst and try setting some new goals, exploring new territory, or connecting to something larger than yourself.

Speaking of the Centaur, as I'm reading the Narnia chronicles to our little girl in utero, I found this passage a few nights ago near the end of "The Silver Chair": "No one thinks a Centaur funny when he sees it. They are solemn, majestic people, full of ancient wisdom which they learn from the stars, not easily made either merry or angry; but their anger is terrible as a tidal wave when it comes."

I've always loved the image of the centaur teachers and their relationship to the stars. An image of man and nature and then nature teaching man without removing man from his animal nature. The solemn but virile beauty of horses and stars. Sometimes I just sit with those images: horses, stars, and eternal fountains of divine wisdom pouring forth from the sky.Are any of these Sagittarian images with you today? The Moon was often referred to in relationship with the broader concept of "fortune," which means the world and its daily comings and goings...philosophically what might be called the realm of the many diverse things or the world of "becoming." Within this world, the daily changes of the Moon reflect the changing circumstances and the signification of what those changes will look like. So today, let's see if we can spot the solemn, sometimes angry or zealous, figure of the sage and his arrows. The horse and his endless open pastures, held curiously under the stars.​Prayer: I see the stars and run the fields. I find what was looking for me, over and over again, where freedom and guidance are recognized as one and the same...so I praise the sun and the moon, I praise the stars in the sky...and I study the images I see, written in the wise lights of heaven. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Amen.

The Moon in Sagittarius is making trines to Venus and Uranus this morning, and then slowly but surely working its way to a trine of Mars and its first quarter square of the sun.Whatever has been taking shape since our new moon (which was a solar eclipse this month) is now taking hold and potentially facing its first growth related crisis. First quarter moons have often been described astrologers as a pivotal time of development or something like a coming of age rite of passage. This idea has to be applied to a microcosmic time period (a 28 day moon cycle), but the metaphor still holds up. Often we find ourselves going through some rapid series of challenges, hard work, setbacks, and turns of plot during 1st quarter moon moments. Sometimes its as simple as a critical change of thought or perception, and in this way it's perhaps more subtle. Watch and see what you find over the next 24 hours or so!Meanwhile, in the next few hours as the Moon trines Uranus watch for unexpected jolts of insight, awakening, and unpredictability or eccentricity. Uranus' effects will be intensifying again in the coming months as Pluto turns direct and begins working its way back toward their square. Although their square won't be exact again, we will most certainly feel the effects of their application toward one another.As Mercury is retrograde we have to remember that he's also barely moving in his retrograde. This might mean that while some essential changes are happening in our lives, they also might need more time before the changes are fully formed. During this time of the month, when I get a new idea, or I feel like revising or revisiting something, I try to wait 3-4 more days until Mercury starts gaining speed again. Then my thoughts are usually more fully formed on the matters at hand.Last but not least, it's fall equinox in just a few days. The equinoxes and solstices might seem like insignificant events, but astrologically they are anything but small. Each solstice and equinox represents a major turning point in the solar cycle of the year, and the fall equinox in particular represents the entryway of the sun into its death phase. The sun in Libra is in its "fall." The fall season was named after the fall of the sun in the sky and the fall or descent of plant life back into the underworld. Not surprisingly the sign of Libra is depicted by the scales of judgment, justice, and truth. The next thirty days are the most important days of our solar year in the sense that our work will begin its phase of completion for the year...a time where integration, dissemination, releasing, understanding, rewards and consequences, and the envisioning or imagining of the next cycle all start to take place. It's a particularly great time to begin intellectual or spiritual journeys of learning or understanding, as the dark part of the year also reflects the wisdom of the cycle. The scales of justice are also a symbol for the gathering and weighing of experience...the results of which are truth and knowledge, as well as discernment.Prayer: Today is the sun's day. Thank you for the light and life you give, all year round, and even now as you begin to descend for the year...we also celebrate the abundance of what you give to us in death.

The Sun has entered Virgo today, and the Moon is just past first quarter in Sagittarius, applying to square Neptune and trine Mars in Leo and then Venus retrograde in Leo by late tonight.What to watch for:* Increased attention to detail, planning, organization, craft, purity, service, chores, sensual attentiveness and worrisome obsessing (Sun/Jupiter conjunct in Virgo)* The marriage of opposites, the sexual attraction of greatness to greatness, the king and the queen turning the lights down low (Venus retrograde toward conjunction with Mars)* The preacher, sage, teacher, and fiery saint on his mission to save (Moon in Sagittarius square Neptune)* The holy fervor, the crusader, adventurer, and conquest (Moon in Sagittarius)* A negotiation, contract, hard agreement, letter of the law, fine print, and final agreed upon number (Mercury sextile Saturn)* Driving a hard bargain, speaking carefully, deeply, attentively (Mercury sextile Saturn)* Experience, expertise, wisdom, discernment, discrimination (Mercury sextile Saturn)* Careful planning, slow planning, leads to success (Mercury sextile Saturn)* The feeling of preparation toward a new phase or season (Sun entering last phase of summer)* The confidence of a foreman or project leader or manager (Sun/Jupiter conjunction in Virgo)Happy Sunday everyone!Prayer: May the warmth of the last days of summer guide us carefully toward the harvest.

The Moon is in Sagittarius this morning, finally out of fall and out of the via combusta. Today she will square Venus, and then trine the Sun and Mercury before a very late square to Neptune.Meanwhile Venus has turned retrograde, Jupiter is closing in on the square to Saturn, and Uranus is stationing to turn retrograde.What to watch for:* An expansive feeling of joy, hope, optimism, conquest, and good faith (Moon in Sagittarius trine Sun in Leo)* Speaking the truth from the heart (Moon in Sagittarius trine Mercury in Leo)* The truth or faith vision from a previous era or time period makes a come back, might appear loudly but as a turn off, or somehow reestablishes itself in our minds with a new twist (Moon in Sagittarius square Venus retrograde in Virgo)* Attraction to what is old, what is developed, what is pure, moral, upright, uptight, conservative, focused, deep, real, true, in need of repair, fixing, saving, or salvaging (Venus retrograde in Virgo square Saturn retrograde in Scorpio)* An uninterrupted period of mental and emotional concentration (Moon in Sagittarius trine Sun/Mercury in Leo)* A return to styles, tastes of the past, a change of style or appearance, the need to revise, revist, purge, or cleanse some element of our body/image/wardrobe or hygiene (Venus retrograde in Virgo)* A love from the past returns, if only largely in our mind or memory (Venus retrograde)* A period of active rebellion coming to a close (Uranus stationing)* A new stand, new idea, new vision of the future or progress establishing itself (Uranus stationing)As the Moon is waxing toward full, and as the Jupiter/Saturn square increases in strength, we're looking at an opportunity that has something to do with the themes of Jupiter/Saturn and Venus retrograde, all coming together at once. The simplest face of this might have something to do with a generational encounter, one that involves major differences of opinion based on totally different forms of experience or expertise. How can we discount each other's life experience, and how can we discount the unique wisdom that comes from unique experiences? Yet when the old simply think that "more experience means better wisdom," or when the young think that "more exotic experiences means better wisdom," the two sides will pretend to share openly while quietly judging one another. With Venus in the mix of all of this right now, there are issues of purity, health, hygiene, and morality in the mix. And with fixed star Regulus involved (the heart of the Lion) and Venus about to dip back into Leo, there are also major issues of pride, ego, dignity, and specialness. Part of the debate might have something to do with the feeling on either side that an abdication of power or divine rights is taking place.Some archetypal images to leave us with:* A young girl singing a spiritual hymn at an old butter churn* An old man blowing bubbles* A fox watching an argument between two people from the bushes, doesn't realize they are threatening each other, not him* An old man refusing to leave his farm when the bank arrives to take it...sits on his roof with a shotgun * A king hands a messenger a sealed envelope and tells him to deliver it to a mystery woman on horseback who will meet him in the market place* A palace guard falling asleep, dreams of children riding on the backs of great lions* A holy roller service, people literally speaking in tongues of fire* An old man fishing with a young boy, the young boy is annoyed with the old man, tells him he's doing something all wrong, the old man listens carefully* A young girl eavesdropping on her parents' conversation, hears something she can't unhearPrayer: When the young and old meet, help us to realize that age is something more than just a number or a list of unrealized expectations

Full Moon today! In just a few hours the full moon in Sagittarius will be exact. This powerful full moon features Mercury retrograde, the Sun, and Mars in Gemini, opposite Saturn and the Moon in Sagittarius, all square to Neptune in Pisces. Meanwhile, Venus is culminating in the final degrees of Cancer and about to enter Leo where she will eventually be retrograde later this summer, and Jupiter in Leo is applying to trine Uranus in Aries.What to watch for:* A philosophical, intellectual, ideological, or religious change of view, belief, or focus* A debate, dialogue, or ongoing discussion about differing points of view* A new course of study, practice, interest, investment or involvement* The culmination of experiences that leads to a paradigm change or total transformation of belief or approach* As we are attempting to move forward something from the past is constantly nagging or asking for more attention, reworking, or revising...one step forward, two steps back* Feeling overwhelmed by details, blurry thoughts, the feeling that we'll never get where we want to go, that we can't sort through a total mess, etc* Nervous system issues, trouble sleeping, headaches, trouble with the eyes* Trying to juggle a variety of things at once, feeling like there's not enough time* Unclear communication, disillusionment, grandiosity of ideas* Deception, lies, taking advantage of or being taken advantage of* Creating excuses* The demand that we walk our talk* Mindfulness, compassionate communication, slowly revising, editing, or carefully sorting or organizing things* Finding and fixing small problems* Sudden, unexpected victories, breakthroughs, innovations, excitement, near miss accidents that turn out okay* Attraction to the inner life, emotion, animals, home, children, family, history, the past, antiques, and collectibles or odds and ends* The need to get out of the head, slow down, and let things happen rather than trying to control everything mentallyAt this full moon time, with three planets in Gemini, all square to Neptune, one of the biggest lessons we're learning has to do with the mental/rational mind and its tendency toward vascillation and constant exhausting dispersion. The mind in its beautiful multifacetedness can sometimes become the tool of the ego. We use the mind to protect, to defend, and to make excuses when what we really need is vulnerability, slowness, patience, discernment, and a willingness to see through the many "angles" of perception and into the heart of what is true and right in a given moment or circumstance. Knowing our truth is difficult if we never stop to listen, and it's even harder if we only ever practice the art of "creating my own truth as I go."We can be such extremists about truth. It's either all my creation, or it's 100% objective and written on stone tablets on the top of a mountain. What about that interesting in between place where we participate in the creation of truth but we also have to listen to the voice of truth outside of ourselves?On the other hand, mindfulness can become such a cliche when we're not mindful about how we hold and use and talk about the subject of mindfulness. We might recall the words of Jesus when teaching on the subject of giving alms, "Don't let your left hand know what your right is doing." Or his instructions about prayer, "When you pray, pray in the secret." The art of mindfulness is similarly about the art of doing something that is lost as soon as we talk or label it as an "approach." As the Tao Te Ching says, "The way that can be named is not the way."So even though we might be taming or subduing the mental/rational mind right now, even though we might be finding our way to truths greater than our ego's tendency toward mental manipulation, the transformation is more than just a philosophical statement or bumper sticker. Unless we're actually embodying the transformation we know to be true, in the small and secret moments, we will likely find ourselves feeling confused, disoriented, inconsistent, and mentally or philosophically overwhelmed.Prayer: help me to soften my mind and find my truth, one small moment of listening by one small action at a time

The Moon is in Sagittarius this morning, opposing Venus in Gemini, right before Venus enters the sign of Cancer and then the Moon enters Capricorn. Meanwhile, Mercury has entered its shadow phase before retrograde on the 18th, and Mars is preparing to leave Taurus and enter Gemini next week.What to watch for:* Extravagance, indulgence, and entitlement (Moon opp Venus)* Conflicts or tension in relationships (Moon opp Venus)* Differing views or philosophies (Moon opp Venus in Sag/Gemini)* The sudden desire to be at home, to be private, secretive, shy, sensitive, sweet, mysterious, and moody (Venus entering Cancer)* The attraction to animals, children, cozy or protected places (Venus entering Cancer)* What we want and the maturity required to know the difference between wants and needs (Venus entering Cancer right as the Moon enters Capricorn)* Working hard for what we want, the patient, long view (Venus entering Cancer right as the Moon enters Capricorn)* Peace, home, compromise, the calling to negotiate and find the noble, just, discerning path forward (North node in Libra, ruler Venus moving into Cancer)* The selfish difficulty of desires, not getting what we want or not wanting to put in the work (south node Aries, ruler Mars in detriment in Taurus)* Wanting it all, recognizing the tendency we have to exaggerate our needs (Sun in Taurus, squaring Jupiter in Leo)* Vacillating between options, slowing down to consider multiple points of view, circumnavigating or going around rather than straight through something, reconsidering or reworking something, learning something new and revising old neural connections or pathways (Mercury in Gemini moving into its retrograde cycle)* Sudden, exciting changes, news, victories, inventions, ideas, progress, and potential grandiosity or ego inflation (Jupiter in Leo moving into trine with Uranus in Aries)* The mood dictates the experience, becoming more sensitive to that for the foreseeable future (Venus entering Cancer)* Moody/victimy/longing/discontent/neediness (Venus in Cancer applying to trine Neptune in Pisces)* Romantic/quiet/imaginative/emotional longing (Venus in Cancer applying to trine Neptune in Pisces)* Hard work pays off (Moon in Capricorn)* Trouble resting because of the feeling that there is so much to do (Moon in Capricorn)* Working hard to create a strongly desired feeling of safety (Moon in Capricorn as ruler of Venus in Cancer..the moon's home sign) * Mothers day coming!! (Venus in Cancer)* Revising or revisiting some kind of learning or travel from the past (Saturn retrograde in Sagittarius)* Communicative haze/fog/confusion/deception/slips of the tongue/unconscious remarks/increased psychic sensitivity/synchronicities/dejavu/overt symbolism (Mercury in Gemini square to Neptune in Pisces)I often received the question, "How can all of these be happening at once?" And the answer is that they aren't all happening at once. In fact, it's possible that none of the above are happening but that something else that fits the interaction of the archetypes is more fitting. The point of providing a list like this is for people to be able to ground their daily experiences and current life dramas (the good and the bad, so to speak) in the planetary movements. We're trying to encourage symbolic thinking because it's through symbolic thinking, and weaving heaven and earth together, that we open to the voice of spirit within us, the divine seed whose desire it is to learn and grow into its unique shape. By making the connections to the themes above, we are also immediately engaged in the spiritual virtues or vices of them. For example...if you find yourself engaged in some kind of deception right now, or someone is trying to deceive you, the astrological square between Mercury and Neptune not only mirrors or signifies that experience but there is also the implicit spiritual advice: don't be deceived. On the other hand, if you need to hide from a predatorial person in your life, the same symbol says: stay beneath the radar with a little tact and mental/communicative strategy. People do this part of the work on their own; this part can't be spoon fed. The work of the daily astro-weather is to simply give us a list of the archetypal fields that are currently expressing themselves in the sky because they are the same fields expressing themselves in our lives. One is not causing the other to happen; they are cooperative and simultaneous. Predictability might imply some kind of mechanics at work, and its safe to say that intelligent design is at play in everything, but the multivalence also implies that we needn't look to the sky for everything. In fact, often when we look to the sky we're looking at multiple timelines, options, and choices to be made more than events that are fated or predetermined. Our work when we read a horoscope listing all the events of the day, is to simply find our event. Find where the gods are reaching into our hearts and minds, and then do the work of those themes. The courageous work of doing what we know is right in our heart and soul, given the themes we are perhaps most possessed by at any time. The gods are so much more interesting and beautiful when we establish ourselves as autonomous agents who can recognize their presence in our lives and then do the work of relating with them, rather than being dominated by them. Like children who are working to establish their autonomy from their parents, rather than being mere puppets or mimics of their patterns...yet at the same time cannot ever be fully separate from their patterns.Prayer: Help me to see myself and my life, reflected in the planets and stars, and help me to live the life I know in my heart I'm here to live.

The Moon is in Sagittarius this morning, about to conjoin Saturn retrograde in Sagittarius before then moving to oppose Mercury in Gemini and then square Neptune in Pisces.The word of the day is "changeable."How flexible are we in our thinking? How much flexibility is just indecision or ambivalence and what's going to help us most right now when it comes to making important decisions or discerning our guiding beliefs, visions, or ideas?Recently we've had a whole bunch of planets in Taurus and Gemini, while the rest of the planets from Jupiter out to Pluto have been mostly slowed or slowing down, or retrograde. It's been a lot of move and then stop, move and then stop, change direction and then stop, and repeat, repeat, repeat. Our full moon in Scorpio this past weekend definitely brought a number of issues to the surface and gave us a kick in the right direction, but today's astrology points to more contemplating, changing, shifting our opinions, and seeing things from a different point of view again.So what gives? Why all the start and stop, push and pull? A few possible answers:* Sometimes we have a general direction we'd like to go in but we haven't examined our motives enough* Big changes take time and lots of small setbacks along the way* Sometimes a large change in our life comes in small stages...the vision we have right now isn't actually the way things will be, and each small setback or change of direction slowly adjusts the big picture to something more fittingYou could imagine a lot more answers...as many answers as there are people stumped by these dynamics!In the IChing there is a hexagram referred to as "Contemplation." In the judgement the text talks about a man washing his hands ritualistically before making a sacrifice. The sacrifice not yet made, the man contemplates and awaits the arrival of the divine.In some ways this is the perfect image for the astrology we've been experiencing. Ever since the last Pluto/Uranus square and eclipse season we've entered into something very much like the ritual space. We've received a vision, or some big changes have come through that we're now preparing for. In a sense it's as though we've washed our hands and are moving to make the sacrifices necessary...implementing the changes needed. However, as the IChing hexagram teaches, between the ritual space of washing the hands and making the sacrifice, we have to pause and contemplate.If you've ever worked with Tarot cards or the IChing or any kind of divination system then you'll know this in between space very well. It's the space you create and the time you take with the cards, coins, or yarrow stalks before reading them. It's the time you take to be quiet with the question. It's the time you take to become receptive.This doesn't mean we should just stop everything and be quiet in our lives right now. There are so many ways to make ourselves receptive. One way is to consider and discuss things, and then sit, wait, listen, and then consider and discuss again. Another great way to become receptive is to clean, clear, and nurture our bodies, minds, and physical homes/offices/basements/closets/garages. Clarity to receive divine guidance is made as much as it is given. But the bottom line right now is that if we're getting spun out by the back and forth, if we're feeling "all over the place" about the future or what steps to take, then we might try to act more ritualistically.Have we washed our hands?Cleaned our spaces?Created more room and simple/open places to listen for guidance?Are we asking questions or just taking actions?Prayer: Watching. Hands are washed, offerings are not yet presented. Being sincere and truthful, reverence appears. (From Hexgram 20 of the IChing)

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Author

Adam Elenbaas is a professional astrologer and the founder of the Nightlight Astrology School. Adam holds an MA and MFA in English and Creative Writing and is one of the founding writers at RealitySandwich. To learn more about Adam, click here.